Lajos egri biography

He presents the premise that if a girl cannot find any other means of support, she will turn to prostitution. The protagonist he chooses to prove this premise is named Irene, an attractive young woman who lives in a small town and comes from a good family. She goes to New York to become a dancer, fails at that and then sinks into prostitution.

But we know that not every girl who comes to New York and fails to succeed as a performer or some similar endeavor becomes a prostitute—or at least we would like to believe so. There must be something else she could do? Furthermore, Egri urges that you, the playwright, must make Irene try every conceivable way to avoid prostitution. But, according to Egri, she must fail!

Lajos egri biography: Lajos N. Egri (born

Otherwise you will not be able to prove your premise. The premise, as Egri defines it, is also a capsule summary of the plot. But it was not in plotting where Egri excelled the most: it was in his treatment of character. On this subject Egri broke with Aristotle, who decreed that character was secondary to plot. What is more important, Egri asks: plot or character?

That is a pointless question, Egri would answer, because plot emanates from character. If you have chosen your characters well, and fully understand them, then they have no choice but to take the path that you have destined for them— the path that proves your premise. But these were not ordinary characters. These were characters that you could smell.

The audience, mesmerized, flocked to see these animals who somehow resembled human beings. Write for yourself. Egri was indeed brilliant, and I have incorporated certain of his concepts, particularly those dealing with character, in my own work. His conceptualization of premise has been embraced by both critics and industry professionals alike.

Yet Egri is dated, terribly dated. Plays and screenplays with Egri-styled premises are rare today. Audiences are too sophisticated; they have seen it all.

Lajos egri biography: Lajos N. Egri (June 4,

As a further illustration of this, Ibsen who Egri greatly admired is rarely performed today, while Chekhov is continually revived. Lajos Egri was born in Hungary in He immigrated to the United States when he was eighteen years old and earned a livelihood working in the New York City garment industry. He is purported to have written his first play when he was ten years old.

In New York he also wrote plays, but was not a well-known playwright. In Egri published a manual on play writing entitled How to Write a Play. This manual was revised and republished in under the title The Art of Dramatic Writingwhich was, as far as I can discern, revised at lajos egri biography once more. At some point, I am not sure when, Egri opened a school for writing in a small office in midtown Manhattan New York.

I was only able to find two pertinent references to it: one is an article in the New York Timesand the other is a reference by one of his students—a very young Woody Allen. The New York Times article describes how one of his students, a sixty-three year-old grandmother, had her first play produced on Off-Broadway; it received mixed reviews and ran for only a few weeks.

By the way, sixty-three years was considered old in those days. By now I am sure that some of you suspect that I am sitting behind my computer screen, smirking at this obscure, humble immigrant: this tailor by trade who eked out a meager living by mentoring would-be playwrights with precious little talent and less chance of success. Totally Wrong!

Lajos Egri was a man I could admire. He was absolutely brilliant! Every hundred or so years—if we are so fortunate—a person comes along who can see things that no one else can see. A person who sees order where others can only discern chaos. Religion 6. Race, nationality 7. Place in community: leader among friends, clubs, sports. Political affiliations 9.

Amusements, hobbies: books, newspapers, magazines he reads. Sex life, moral standards 2. Personal premise, ambition 3. Frustrations, chief disappointments 4. Temperament: choleric, easygoing, pessimistic, optimistic. Attitude toward life: resigned, militant, defeatist. Complexes: obsessions, inhibitions, superstitions, phobias. Extrovert, introvert, ambivert 8.

Abilities: languages, talents.

Lajos egri biography: Biographical/historical information Lajos Egri ()

Qualities: imagination, judgment, taste, poise. See all Lajos Egri's quotes ». In other projects. Wikidata item. American dramatist. EgerAustria-Hungary. Early years [ edit ]. Playwright [ edit ]. Teacher of playwriting [ edit ]. The Art of Dramatic Writing [ edit ].

Lajos egri biography: Lajos N. Egri was a

The Art of Creative Writing [ edit ]. Later life [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Hungarians in America: a biographical directory of professionals of Hungarian origin in the Americas.